Facility Decontamination and Decommissioning

Geosyntec's engineers and scientists aid many clients in the decommissioning and remediation of power plants, refineries, military facilities, NASA storage and assembly areas, and chemical manufacturing and distribution facilities.

We also consult on the remediation and closure of dozens of industrial waste and solid waste containment facilities regulated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

Notably, Geosyntec practitioners were key members of the Closure Project Team for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Fernald Feed Production Center in Ohio, tasked with overseeing the removal of 31 million pounds of processed nuclear product, decontamination and demolition of 223 buildings, and removal of 8,900 cubic yards of radium-bearing waste.

For this project, Geosyntec designed a hallmark on-site disposal facility (OSDF) to safely contain low-level radioactive waste and hazardous waste generated during the demolition and site cleanup process. We were selected as the engineer-of-record for the permitting, design, and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) services during construction, filling, and closure of the OSDF. The result is a secure 65-acre, eight-cell waste containment facility containing 2.95 million cubic yards of materials and capable of lasting at least 200 years, and up to 1,000 years to the extent achievable with available technology.

At Fernald, Geosyntec redefined how modern containment systems could be used to securely dispose of hazardous and low-level radioactive waste. We have since been tasked with the design and construction of new OSDFs at both the DOE's Portsmouth and Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plants in Ohio and Kentucky, respectively.

In addition, Geosyntec engineers and scientists have contributed heavily to asset retirement and conversion services for the electric power industry. For a former waste-to-energy generating facility in Florida, we prepared the preliminary remedial design for a 60-acre site regulated under CERCLA. Our services included construction management, third-party construction quality assurance oversight, and laboratory testing services as well as oversight of the demolition of two incinerators, a 200-foot water tower, and miscellaneous process and administrative buildings. Our optimization of the remedy led to minimized construction costs and approval of design modifications, resulting in client cost savings in excess of $1.5 million. We also provided valuable assistance in negotiating construction claims, which resulted in additional client savings.

For another client undergoing a large-scale renovation and expansion of a coal-fired power plant, Geosyntec performed pre-demolition hazardous materials assessments and coordinated the facility's coal handling/processing structure demolition. We subsequently provided implementation design, bidding support, oversight, and documentation of soil remedial action plans, coordinating it with demolition and renovation/expansion activities. By supporting the client and demolition/ construction contractors with time-critical waste profiling, segregation, and management and by acting as regulatory liaison, we helped maintain the project's crucial renovation and expansion schedule.

Geosyntec worked with the City of Coral Gables, Florida to prepare the design and bid package for the demolition of a waste-to-energy incinerator and 50-ft tall stack that contained elevated concentrations of lead, arsenic, and dioxins. Our significant experience in the assessment, characterization, and ultimate disposal of incinerator ash helped our client remove the stigma that the site once had in the community and positioned the property for commercial redevelopment.

Geosyntec has provided single-sourced services for clients planning to decommission and demolish industrial manufacturing facilities with the intent to obtain regulatory closure in support of the future sale of the property. At these facilities, Geosyntec performed site characterization, decommissioning, decontamination, hazardous building material assessments, oversight of abatement, development of bid documents and bid support, construction management, construction quality assurance, and oversight of scrap/asset recovery. Single-sourced services reduced the clients cost and time to obtain closure by requiring fewer contracts to administer and fewer consultant/contractor interfaces to manage. The coordination of the work is placed with one consultant - Geosyntec.

At a former catalyst manufacturing facility in Southern California that produced catalyst for use in petroleum refining, Geosyntec assisted the client in preparing the site for sale as part of their plan for consolidating their manufacturing capabilities into one facility. Geosyntec performed decommissioning and decontaminating support, hazardous building material surveys, oversight of abatement and demolition, Phase I and Phase II site characterization and soil remediation, and obtained regulatory closure. After Geosyntec completed the work and obtained the regulatory closure, the client sold the property as planned.

Geosyntec has successfully provided similar services to other industrial clients for facilities that include former electrical transformer manufacturing, oil and chemical refining and processing, and aerospace fastener manufacturing. One measure of the value of Geosyntec's services is the repeat business with clients. For example, the client with the catalyst manufacturing facility in Southern California contracted with Geosyntec to perform similar, additional decommissioning and demolition services at their Northern California manufacturing plant.

Lead Consultants

Rudy Bonaparte is a Senior Principal Engineer based in Georgia with more than 35 years of professional experience focused on the areas of: geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering; contaminate ...

Jay Beech is a Senior Consultant Engineer based in Georgia with more than 30 years of experience focused on design and construction of waste containment and subsurface barrier systems, sediment rem ...

Michael Houlihan is a Senior Principal Engineer based in Maryland with more than 30 years of experience focused on industrial and municipal waste management, waste containment system design, geotec ...

Nandra Weeks is a Senior Principal Environmental Engineer based in Florida with more than 30 years of professional experience focused on the engineering and remediation issues associated with envir ...

Scott Graves is a Principal Engineer based in Texas with experience focused on geotechnical, environmental, and water resources engineering. Scott specializes in landfill design and permitting, was ...

Daniel Schauer is a Senior Principal Geologist based in Florida with more than 34 years of geological, hydrogeological, and geotechnical engineering consulting experience focused on multidisciplina ...

John Seymour is a Senior Principal Civil Engineer based in Illinois with over 30 years of experience focused on site remediation, deep foundation engineering, and construction management. His clien ...

Kenneth Fredianelli is a Principal Construction Management Professional based in California with more than 30 years of experience focused on managing engineering, construction, and design/build pro ...

Jim Stout is a Senior Principal Environmental Scientist based in Texas with more than 31 years of experience focused on the effective management of environmental remediation projects for private an ...

Health and Safety

Quick Qual

Geosyntec is a consulting and engineering firm that works with private and public sector clients to address new ventures and complex problems involving our environment, natural resources, and civil infrastructure.